


Pens and Kisses

by Creatlysse



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Arthur is Bad at Feelings, Arthur is in denial, BAMF Gwen (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Bisexual Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Bisexual Merlin (Merlin), Cheerleader! Gwen, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Everyone is in the theater club, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gaius is a biology teacher, Good Mordred (Merlin), Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), High School, High School AU, I promise that when I start with the smut there will be a reasonable amount of smut from there, Jealous Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Jealous Morgana (Merlin), Kilgarrah is a history teacher, Kilgarrah is human, Lancelot is alive and STAYS alive, Lesbian Morgana (Merlin), Merlin and Gwen are best friends, Merlin has different colored eyes, Merlin is a Little Shit, Multi, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), Pansexual Gwaine (Merlin), Pansexual Gwen (Merlin), Past Relationship(s), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Elyan (Merlin), Protective Gwaine (Merlin), Protective Morgana (Merlin), Rating May Change, Rating will change, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, So does Morgana, Soccer player! Arthur Pendragon, Soccer player! Morgana, The Knights of the Round Table are Mathletes, The Knights of the Round Table are nerds, The Pendragons have the same taste, There's gonna be a lot more angst than what I'm saying, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Underage Drinking, no one has magic, scratch that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24121510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creatlysse/pseuds/Creatlysse
Summary: After years and years of moving around from place to place, Merlin and his mother finally settle down.But the world isn't quite done with him, is it?Starting a new high school, Merlin meets Arthur Pendragon. Bratty, snobbish, rich Arthur Pendragon. Immediately, he hates him. It's even worse when Arthur has most of his classes with him, so he has a lot more interaction with him.But it is at its worst when his own feelings get thrown into the picture.-----AKA High School AU of the Merlin characters but with my own little twist to it.
Relationships: Freya/Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Morgana/Morgause (Merlin)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 91





	1. Lucky

Merlin _never_ considered himself a lucky kid. If anything, he considered his life okay, but his luck? Not so much. 

Luck was never on Merlin's side of things. Not when he inherited his father's heterochromia, not when his father died, and certainly not when he and his mother moved around from place to place, hoping to settle down. Merlin never really wanted to settle down. Everywhere they went, he was always called something based on his features. Especially his heterochromia. The two different eye colors, gold and blue. He hated them. He was always the odd one out, after all.

He did make online friends, though. He was to meet one of them soon, actually. His very best friend, even if he didn't know if she was real, Gwen. He certainly hoped she was real because if she wasn't, he told so many of his life secrets to some random catfish on the internet. Gwen and Merlin had been friends since when Merlin was nine years old. His mother got him a phone for his birthday and he was so incredibly happy, and he immediately went to the internet, where he met Gwen. Gwen had seen his eyes in video calls, actually, and she thought they were 'cool' and 'amazing'. She was a great person.

It was an immense coincidence that his mother decided to settle down in the city of Albion. He was going to Camelot High School too, the same school as Gwen. He put that one on coincidence, he didn't like to call upon luck.

"Merlin!" His mother snapped him out of his daydream.

"Huh? Yes? What?" Merlin regained his full attention and focused it on his mom.

"I asked whether you want to eat cereal or pancakes," Hunith said, "It's breakfast, remember?"

Merlin let out a small laugh at his mother's words. He looked up at his mother, "Can I have cereal?"

Hunith smiled and turned away, walking to the kitchen in their small apartment. He took out his phone.

_MerDoneWithYourShit: Any tips?_

_BadFlowerQueen: Just come find me at the gate of CHS when you get here._

_MerDoneWithYourShit: Okay, but then what? Hoe, give me more info._

_BadFlowerQueen: Most people are bitches, I guess?? Just stick with me and you'll be okay._

_MerDoneWithYourShit: Any specific people to watch out for? I want my high school drama, Gwen._

_BadFlowerQueen: I told you to just meet me at the gate! I'll tell you everything there._

_MerDoneWithYourShit: You better. Oh, my mom's calling, see ya at school, I guess??_

Merlin put his phone away. He got up and took his bag with him. It wasn't a backpack, more like a messenger bag. He went to the bathroom and put only one of his contacts in, for him to have matching eyes. He looked up at the mirror and smiled, he looked relatively normal. He had to remember to thank his uncle, Gaius, for buying him the contacts.

He ate the quickest he might've his entire life and ran out the door, but not before lovingly saying goodbye to his mother. She was the one that had to wave him off. She advised him to stay out of trouble and to simply keep his head down. She said to check in with Gaius at some point, say hi to him. 

When Merlin finally left, it wasn't a long walk to school. He looked around and his eye started bothering him a bit, not too much. He figured it was the contact starting to adjust. When he was at the gate, he stood there and looked around. He didn't see Gwen anywhere. He started panicking and took out his phone.

He noticed there was a notification from her. When he read it, he let out a deep sigh. She was just running late. He stood there for a few minutes before he heard a perky voice yelling out his name and he swear he would recognize that voice until the moment he died. Guinevere.

"Merlin! Merlin! Over here!" He heard the voice and saw a rather short girl running up to him. So, she wasn't fake. That's great to know.

She was more beautiful than she was on camera, he realized quickly. Her skin was the type of dark where she almost certainly glowed in the sunlight and Merlin was almost jealous. She had dark brown curls with matched her brown eyes. It was also curious, Merlin saw Gwen as a 'dress' type of girl, yet she was wearing a lavender shirt that was tucked into some jeans. She looked amazing.

"Gwen!" Merlin said, suddenly taken over by excitement. 

They had a very long hug and Gwen was the first one to pull away. She hugged him again after seeing his face, though. Then, they both pulled away. 

Merlin had his mouth opened, words on the tip of his mouth, unable to speak. He almost cried of happiness. Gwen was real. His friend, for almost seven years now, was real. Gwen laughed and took the words he wanted to say by grabbing his hand.

"You're real!" She laughed. Merlin smiled and nodded, as if to say 'I am.'

Gwen hugged him once more and then she turned around, standing at his side. He was rather tall, compared to her. He knew that she was five foot one, but he never realized just how short that meant she was. He was five foot eight, so he was somewhere around average. 

"You put your contacts on," She pouted. Gwen liked Merlin's different colored eyes.

"I definitely did!" Merlin deadpanned, "I'm not risking people making fun of me for it."

Merlin and Gwen stared at each other and smiled.

"So, are you gonna tell me who to watch out for or?" Merlin joked, putting his arm around her shoulders. 

"Oh, definitely," She held in a giggle.

They spent a few more minutes joking around before Gwen decided to actually tell him about the high school. They were Juniors, now. Both of them. 

"You should definitely not get into a fight with the Pendragons, though," Gwen advised him, "Their dad is the principal. Plus, they are tough. Like, tough-tough. They're both in the soccer team."

"Soccer team?" Merlin raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you a cheerleader for the school's team?"

Gwen laughed, "Yeah, I am."

Merlin grinned at the thought of Gwen running around with pom-poms. She'd look either pretty or ridiculous, and either way, he was gonna laugh. 

"Also, the Pendragons are hot. Like, they're _hot_."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, "These Pendragons, what are their names?"

"Morgana and Arthur!" Gwen said, "I think everyone in the school has a crush on them at some degree. I know I do."

Merlin rolled his eyes jokingly, "Way to be pansexual on main."

Gwen laughed and elbowed him, jokingly. 

"You're gonna be a mess when you see them, Merlin. Trust me on this one," Gwen said, "I mean a _mess_. They're super hot."

"Because my bisexual ass hasn't had enough thrown at me," Merlin blurted out and they both burst out laughing. 

"I know them, Merlin. I'm good friends with Morgana! I think I still have a crush on her?" Gwen thought for a minute, "Better give that thought some more time. But she's incredibly judgy at first. If she likes you, she'll play nice. If she doesn't, she'll make your life hell. She's the captain of the soccer team, too!"

"Gee, thanks. Now I'll have to worry about first impressions," Merlin said.

"She also has different colored eyes, like you! Except that one of her eyes is green, not blue."

Merlin stared at Gwen for a few seconds with a small smile, he wasn't entirely alone. 

"What about Arthur?" Merlin asked.

"He's a mathlete, so he's a nerd. But a tough nerd, nevertheless," Gwen said, "He's super strong. He hates everyone who isn't in his group of friends. I've heard he bullies people and they've had to switch schools because it got so bad."

"And the principal is his dad," Merlin pieced it in, "So, he's incapable of doing anything bad in his eyes."

"Exactly."

Merlin leaned against the school wall and looked down at Gwen again. 

"Can I lead you to your locker before we part ways for first period?" Gwen asked, offering her hand.

"I just got comfortable against a wall and you're saying we have to split? Are you being serious right now?" Merlin joked. 

Gwen laughed and took his hand, leading him to the lockers. They eventually did find Merlin's locker, which happened to be two lockers away from her own. Merlin blamed it on coincidence. Luck wasn't his friend.

They were on the same homeroom, luckily. They took seats near each other. Merlin was seating on the back and Gwen was sitting on the front. They talked and joked for a while.

They did part ways when the bell finally rung. Her own first period was Algebra, while his was Biology. Thank Goddess for that, Gaius was his first teacher of the day. He rolled into class and smiled happily when Gaius saw him and smiled back.

"Merlin!" Gaius laughed.

"Gaius!" Merlin hugged him.

They hugged for a couple of seconds before pulling away. Merlin pulled away and laughed. 

"How is Hunith?" Gaius asked.

"She's great! She expects you later for dinner," Merlin answered.

Gaius put his hand on Merlin's cheek and stared at him for a couple of seconds.

"You put the contact in!" Gaius said.

"Yeah, and it's the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can finally hide some of my physical dysfunctional aspects!" Merlin smiled. 

Gaius laughed, "I'm glad you like them, my boy."

The late bell rung and Merlin sighed, taking a seat in the upper corner of the classroom. The back was all taken by some people. He looked at the classroom. It seemed to be divided in groups. He sighed. He wanted to talk to Gwen. 

Class went by in a flash, seeing as how it was mostly Gaius talking about his goals for the year with the students and his plans. Merlin was almost asleep through it. Luckily, though, his next class was with Gwen. They met up in the hallway and walked towards their next class, Creative Writing. They both had high hopes for this one class.

Gwen kept on telling Merlin about people.

"There's Morgause," She pointed at a blonde girl and quickly turned away, "She's had this on-and-off thing with Morgana. I'm sort of jealous, though, because there's the rumor that Morgana lost her virginity to Morgause."

Merlin scoffed, "You definitely have a crush on Morgana."

Gwen laughed. She kept going, "Morgause is weird. She's been known to worship some weird Gods and she's sort of a goth. Don't get on her bad side, though, she's also been known to kick some ass."

Merlin nodded and looked around and his eyes landed on a group.

"Who are they?" Merlin asked.

"Those are the matheletes. People call them the Knights of the Round Table, though," Gwen started explaining, "Don't know where that came from. My brother is in the group, though, so I know all of them personally, unfortunately."

"Why 'unfortunately'?" Merlin asked, "They all look pretty cute, if not hot."

Gwen looked at them for a minute before turning back to Merlin, "That's what they look like, not how they act. They're a group of dumbasses who have no idea what they're doing half the time."

"So, they all have one braincell?" Merlin asked.

"No, actually," Gwen said, "Only Leon has one braincell. The rest of them don't have shit."

"Critical hit towards your brother," Merlin laughed.

"As much as I love Elyan," Gwen said, monotone voice, "He can burn in the seven circles of Hell with the rest of them."

Merlin laughed hard, as did Gwen. When he realized that one of them was walking towards them, it was too late.

"Guinevere," The one that came over said.

"Elyan," She answered.

"Who is this?" He asked.

"This is Merlin," She pointed towards him. Merlin waved.

The two had an eye conversation that Merlin couldn't keep up with. Elyan sighed and went back to his group after a few seconds and Gwen turned back to Merlin.

"He thought you were my boyfriend," Gwen laughed and Merlin burst out laughing.

"No! Oh Goddess, no!" Merlin laughed.

The bell rung, yet they didn't stop talking. Art was gonna be one of their favorite classes, they knew this. 

Art passed by far too fast. Gwen and Merlin split ways again and Merlin headed to his next class, wherever that was. He ended up arriving two minutes late to History. His teacher was named Kilgarrah, or something. That was what was on the board; Mr. Kilgarrah. He realized it was rather a small class with only a few kids. He wanted to just skip the class, he knew what was after it. Theater. He was excited, he and Gwen bonded over their love for theater before they became best friends. He kept his head down during the class. It didn't pass the time quicker, so he simply started doodling on his notebook. 

"What are we doing, Emrys?" Mr. Kilgarrah called him out. Merlin raised his head at the mention of his last name.

"Nothing!" Merlin tried putting his notebook underneath his desk.

"Exactly, Emrys. Get to writing down the supplies you'll need for the year," Mr. Kilgarrah said and walked away. 

Merlin put his head on his desk and let himself become one with the desk. No one will notice, he thought, no one will notice I'm gone if I'm a desk. Then, the bell rung and he was saved. He grabbed his bag quickly and practically ran out of the room. 

He walked down one hall that he was almost certain was the path to the theater classroom, but he couldn't find Gwen anywhere. He had the class with Gwen, he had half his schedule with Gwen. Yet, he couldn't find her anywhere and it worried him. That is, until he saw some blond guy bullying some poor guy. The blood in his veins boiled, he had never liked bullying or turned a blind eye. 

He walked up to the guy and pushed him away from the victim immediately. 

"Dude, what's your damage?" Merlin almost growled. 

The blond guy laughed, "What's my damage? Are you kidding?"

Merlin stood fierce. 

"Do you know who you're talking to?" The blond guy asked before he pushed Merlin back, "I suggest you look at your own damage before pointing out someone else's."

Merlin looked at the guy, "Or what?"

The guy looked up and down at Merlin, then he rolled his eyes. He started walking away, almost waving Merlin off.

Merlin spoke up, "Yeah, keep rolling your eyes. Maybe you'll find a brain somewhere."

The guy turned his head around and laughed. 

"What's your name?"

Merlin answered with his name and the guy had the same smile.

"Y'know, Merlin, I could take you apart with one blow," The guy said.

Merlin grinned, "I could take you apart with less than that."

The bell rung. Merlin, and this guy as a bonus, were late to class. Merlin looked at his schedule and kept walking, ignoring the calls from the guy to not walk away and face him. Merlin eventually did find his classroom and apologized for being a few minutes late, that he was still trying to understand his new schedule. He took a seat in the back of Gwen, the only seat open near her. He found that the teacher went by her first name, Nimueh. 

As the teacher started explaining her goals for the year, Merlin started whispering to Gwen what had happened out in the hallway.

"So, there was this blond guy bullying this poor freshman, so I stepped in," He said, "And we almost got into a fight, I guess?"

Gwen shrugged, "A blond guy?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Merlin asked.

"Merlin, that was probably Arthur."

Merlin thought about it, "I mean, he _was_ sorta hot."

Gwen held in a laugh, "He _is_ hot."

Merlin smiled and paid attention back to class. Almost immediately, there was a knock on the door. Ms. Nimueh opened the door and there he was, the guy of the hour.

"Was it him?" Gwen leaned back.

Merlin nodded, doing a 'mhm' sound.

Gwen turned back and sighed, "That's Arthur, you dumbass. You almost got into a fight with Arthur Pendragon."

Merlin dropped his head on the desk and groaned quietly. 

He overheard the conversation that Arthur and Ms. Nimueh had. He was in this class. He was also late. Merlin's life couldn't be any worse than this.

In time, the bell rung once more and it was finally lunch time. Gwen and him stayed together over lunch. Towards the end of lunch, a girl with long, silky black hair and two different colored eyes walked towards them. Gwen introduced her as Morgana and Gwen wasn't wrong, she was hot. 

"I heard you were the one that threatened my brother," Morgana said.

Merlin panicked, "Well-"

Gwen laughed and Morgana kept on going.

"Oh, goodness, don't take that as a bad thing," Morgana laughed, "Anyone who can stand up to that asshole is good on my list."

Merlin smiled and sighed deeply. Morgana smiled as well.

"So, I hear from Gwen that you have a okay fashion sense," Morgana said.

"I don't know what she told you, but my fashion sense is incredible," Merlin boasted.

Morgana laughed and took out her phone, starting to show Merlin pictures of her in long dresses.

"Which one do you think is better for the Homecoming Dance?" Morgana asked.

"It depends," Merlin said, "Do you want to give people a tease, or a night they'll really remember?"

Morgana smiled, "I guess you already know your answer. Tell me."

Merlin swiped a few pictures and pointed at a dress that looked more like a galaxy. Shades of blue and purple and pink with white spots everywhere. Morgana grinned.

"The galaxy dress it is, then!" Morgana laughed.

Maybe Merlin had a little luck on his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some things planned for this story I think everyone is going to like ;D  
> Please let me know what you thought of the chapter!


	2. Caramel

Gwen had found a way into Merlin's daily life almost immediately. So did Morgana, actually. Which also meant that Arthur Pendragon was mixed in his daily life. 

Merlin was thankful he had half his schedule with Gwen. Most of the other half, he realized, he had Morgana in. Most of the day, he was with company that he enjoyed. He found that Morgana Pendragon was a great person, very soon. Witty, charming, pretty hot, awfully intelligent. If there was to be any fight about who was better between Merlin and Morgana, Morgana would surely win. 

Spending more time with Morgana, he did tell her within the first few days she knew him that he also had heterochromia. She didn't believe him until later that day, when they met up at a library and Merlin had taken his contact off. She was thrilled, saying that she wasn't alone any longer. She had someone who shared her same quality.

"What are you staring at?" Morgana had asked Merlin and Merlin snapped out of his mind and laughed awkwardly.

"Your eyes. They look beautiful on you," Merlin had commented, "It's quite a nice thing."

Morgana had smiled warmly, "Thank you, Merlin. Your eyes also look stunning."

He spent most of the time with Gwen and Morgana. He had gotten the nickname from Arthur that he was a girl because he hangs out with girls and he brushed it off. It wasn't until later on that day when he had told Gwen and Morgana about it that he realized that Arthur was in for it with Morgana. He had laughed extremely hard when he heard what Morgana had told Arthur when they were in their house (or mansion, as Gwen called it).

"I will emasculate you if you ever call Merlin a girl again," Morgana said she had told Arthur, "I will hang you to the front of the mansion ass-naked and wait for everyone in the goddamn neighborhood to see you and then post on every single rumor website about our school that you're a coward and I will strip you from the title you have now."

Merlin had burst in laughter, "You said that to him?!"

Gwen was also laughing her ass off, trying to catch her breath. When she finally gained the ability to breathe again, she had stared at Morgana for a couple of seconds before laughing again.

"He _soooo_ deserved that," Gwen had finally said.

The first time he went to Morgana's house was two weeks after school had started. Gwen had planned for them to meet at the Pendragon estate because that was one of the fanciest places in town and they could visit it for free. Sadly for Merlin, that meant that on the way to the Pendragon estate after school, he'd have to meet up with Arthur in his final period and follow him to a brand new 4-seat car, which Morgana and Gwen had met up with them maybe 3 minutes after they arrived. 

As soon as the bell of the school-day being over had rung, Arthur had walked over to Merlin's desk and sat down in front of him.

"Listen, you weirdo, Morgana has after-school practice with soccer and Gwen is practicing with the rest of the cheerleaders."

Merlin had held in a laugh. He had seen Gwen in a cheer-leading costume and she looked beautifully ridiculous.

Arthur raised an eyebrow when Merlin interrupted him, "Aren't you in the soccer team, too?"

"I am. However, my ankle got fractured last week at practice, so I'm taking a break from sports for two weeks, Doctor's orders," Arthur realized he was actually having a decent conversation with Merlin and he cleared his throat, "So, I'll be taking you to our estate early. Morgana said to give you a tour of the place, but with your obnoxiousness, you'll be giving the tour to yourself."

Merlin sighed, "You can't go three sentences without insulting me, can you?"

"I'm still planning to punch you eventually," Arthur had informed him, "But Morgana is the one person that can actually make my life a living hell."

Merlin chuckled, so Morgana was his weapon against Arthur. Not that he planned to use her, she was defending him on her own will.

They walked together to the new car and Arthur had driven. Which brings them to where they are now, dead silence aside from the motor and the outside chatter in the streets. Neither Arthur or Merlin said a word to each other. Every time they had tried to talk to each other without a purpose, they both ended up at each other's throats. They knew it was a good idea not to talk.

Yet, Merlin decided to speak anyways.

"How long have you known Gwen?" Merlin asked.

If there was anything that connected both Merlin and Arthur, it was the girls. So, aside from that, they had nothing to say to each other. They didn't like each other, perhaps hated each other. 

"I've known her since freshmen year," Arthur said, "The start of high school."

Merlin hummed in acknowledgement. The silence overtook again.

"I've known Gwen since I was nine," Merlin said, "We met through the internet and-"

"Goddess, Merlin, do you ever stop talking?" Arthur asked.

Merlin quieted down and stared out the window for the remainder of the trip. It wasn't long before they were at the estate and Merlin was freaked out.

" _This_ is where you live?" Merlin questioned.

Arthur hummed a yes.

"How much floors does it have?" Merlin asked, rhetorically, "It was to be more than three. My mom and I barely live with an apartment and you lot live in-"

"A mansion?" Arthur laughed and Merlin stared at him.

There was a moment of silence and their eyes met. Arthur's laugh sounded again and again in Merlin's mind. He wasn't so bad when he laughed. He looked away.

"Guinevere had the same reaction when she first came over," Arthur informed him, "Except for the fact she said she lived in a townhouse."

Merlin laughed, of course she did. Gwen and him were two birds of a feather. 

Arthur guided Merlin inside after parking the car and locking it. Merlin followed close behind, a bit scared he might get lost. He almost chuckled at the thought and the fact he was following behind Arthur Pendragon. Self-proclaimed and entitled Arthur Pendragon, and Merlin was following behind. 

"Father will not be home today or tomorrow," Arthur said, "Aside from being principal, he's also a business man, as you probably know. He's away on a business trip, so Morgana and I get the 'mansion' to ourselves, aside from the house-cleaners."

Merlin nodded, that made sense. There was no way someone could own a house like this just from being a principal. 

Arthur said that only because there was nothing else to do, he'd show Merlin around. Merlin couldn't exactly say no, he didn't even know the way to Morgana's room. Or maybe she had three rooms, Merlin wouldn't know. 

Arthur had showed him the entirety of the, as Arthur called it, 'living floor'. It was like a living room, Arthur explained, just a lot bigger and had multiple things to entertain.

He had also shown him around the second floor and to the third floor, where the rooms were. The beginning room was Arthur's Father's room. He looked one look before walking out. It huge, though.

Next up was Morgana's room, and Morgana's room was everything that Merlin would want his room to be, just a bit more feminine. There was book shelves full if books that he knew to be fantasy, somehow. There was at least two giant bean bags that he could see. There was a ladder, leading up to a reading area next to a window. And so much more. It was a dream and he knew he would be spending a lot of time in Morgana's room while waiting for her to arrive. However, Arthur pulled him out, saying he didn't want him in his sister's room.

"You do know she's a lesbian, right?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, but for all I know, you could be attracted to her without her reciprocating."

Merlin laughed. He liked Morgana as a friend, if not in a sort of sisterly way.

Arthur told him that he either wanted him waiting in the living floor or Arthur's room.

"Why your room? Don't you hate me?" Merlin asked.

"I do, in fact," Arthur said, "You're stupid and you don't know any sense of respect towards me."

"If you want respect, you're gonna have to earn it, you prat," Merlin said.

Arthur cleared his throat, "But, I do know the pain of walking up and down the stairs just for waiting."

Merlin sighed as Arthur pushed opened his room and Merlin could practically smell some sort of caramel scent. It smelled like Arthur, if anything. He had noticed in the car that Arthur does smell like caramel, and his room was filled with the smell, naturally. It wasn't a bad smell, Merlin sort of liked it. Merlin walked in and he looked around. There was a video game machine, book shelves that he had the instinct were either informational books or books of every genre. Arthur also has a bean bag. It was different to Morgana's room, but in a way, it was also similar. Arthur had a climbing rock wall, he had a ladder that lead to what he thought to be Arthur's bed. 

"Look around if you'd like," Arthur said, clearly absentmindedly, "Just don't even think of touching the closet if you wanna keep consciousnesses." 

It did make Merlin curious. What was in the closet? He did come closer to the closet but could feel Arthur's glare and backed away. He went to the bookcase instead and pulled out a book that seemed halfway interesting. _Aubade_. Totally not self promoting please go read my story aubade. He read the fact that it was a fantasy book about a girl who had magical powers and falls in love with the princess. He looked back at Arthur and raised an eyebrow.

Arthur asked what happened.

Merlin showed him the book, "LGBTQ+ books?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "My sister is lesbian and she sometimes hides her own books within mine so that Father doesn't suspect anything because he won't doubt me."

Merlin kept staring at him.

"I'm bisexual," Arthur added, "So aside from my sister being gay, I'm bi and I'd like more LGBTQ+ books."

Merlin chuckled and turned back, "I'm also bi."

He could practically feel Arthur's stare. Maybe a dumbfounded stare or that face he does when he's caught by surprise. 

Merlin opened the book and read through the first page standing up. Then, he found a place to sit down. A bean bag, he chuckled. Arthur left him alone for the rest of the time, playing some video game on his phone. They stayed like that, peacefully. It was new and not completely bad, he liked this environment. At least, he liked Arthur not trying to kill him. He didn't even notice the footsteps down the hall until Arthur's room opened and Morgana was there, rushing towards Merlin. 

She threw herself on Merlin and Merlin laughed, trying to get her off. She didn't get herself off and apparently, Merlin was too weak to pull her off. Morgana sat herself sideways on Merlin's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, protectively.

"What did Arthur do to you? Was he mean? I'll kill him for scaring away one of the few people I can stand," Morgana said.

"Morgana, get off!" Merlin laughed, "You're crushing me!"

Morgana grinned and got off.

Arthur was staring, confused at the exchange.

"No, but did Arthur do anything?" Morgana asked, seriously. 

Merlin chuckled, "No, he played nice for the first time in his life. He's still a spoiled and pompous brat, though."

"Sitting right here, y'know," Arthur glared.

Morgana sat herself down on the same bean bag as Merlin.

Morgana shushed him and pet Merlin's hair, "I know my brother is a pampered asshole. There, there."

Gwen stood on the doorway, "She ran the way up here."

"You look breathless," Merlin commented. 

"Could all of you to Morgana's room?" Arthur groaned.

"Yeah, I'm still tired from cheer practice and Morgana has a lot of stamina," Gwen said.

"I'm sure she must have a lot of stamina," Merlin said, "You should know, Gwen."

Gwen's would've gone red if her skin wasn't dark enough so that no one could see it. Morgana, however, was red. 

"Merlin!" They both said, simultaneously. 

Merlin grinned. He saw the page that he was on in the book and then closed it. He stood up and put it back on Arthur's shelf. He walked out of Arthur's room, Morgana following behind him and Gwen said hello to Arthur before walking to Morgana's room, as well. 

A few minutes later of senseless chatter between the three passed far too quickly. 

"Okay, so let's play Wed, Bed, Behead," Morgana said.

"Isn't is Marry, Fuck, Kill?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, but my version sounds like it's from the middle ages," Morgana said, "Therefore, it's better."

Merlin laughed.

"Don't laugh yet, you're going first, Merls," Morgana said.

Gwen agreed.

"Okay, so," Morgana said, "Three options. Your options are: My idiot brother, Gwen, and Gwaine."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, "Gwaine? Morgana, I know exactly five people in this school."

"The narcissist guy," Gwen said, "You said his voice could make you have an orgasm by itself."

"Ah, my dream high school boyfriend?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, but wait," Morgana pondered, "Isn't he with that guy, Percival?"

Gwen nodded, "He is. Elyan told me that they started dating a week ago."

"So, I'm never gonna get my dream boyfriend?" Merlin asked, jokingly.

Morgana laughed, "Let's pretend he doesn't have a boyfriend for a second and get back to the game. Wed, bed, behead!"

"Alright, I'd wed Gwen," Merlin said, immediately, "But like it would be one of those weddings in which it's just friends and they can fool around with other people but when they don't like someone, they can say they're married. But they don't have any feelings for each other! Besides, who wouldn't want to marry their best friend?"

Morgana nodded, "I fully understand that."

Gwen laid herself beside Merlin, "Honestly, I'd do the same."

Merlin put his arm around Gwen, just to get more comfortable. Morgana was sitting on the ladder. Gwen said it wasn't safe earlier, but Morgana hadn't fallen yet, so Gwen stopped commenting on it.

"What, marry me?" Merlin asked.

"No, marry myself," Gwen said and they all laughed.

"So, you got your wedding. Now, you get to bed someone while your wife is bedding other cute people," Morgana said.

"Why is this a question? My dream boyfriend," Merlin said.

"That leaves one option for beheading and it's Arthur," Gwen pointed out.

Morgana grinned, "He can get his head chopped off, then."

They all laughed together. Morgana got off the ladder and laid herself on Merlin's other side. Merlin sighed and put his arm around her, too.

"What is this, lay-beside-Merlin Central?" Merlin asked.

"No, I'm trying to sleep because I'm exhausted and Morgana probably just lost her energy as well," Gwen said, "Besides, you're warm. Like a walking heat pack."

"If we're going to sleep, let me get my contact off!" Merlin said and Gwen immediately let him go. So did Morgana.

Turns out that they really liked his heterochromia, seeing as how they got to see it far less than Morgana's. He went to Morgana's bathroom and pulled a little box out. He got the contact out, carefully, and put the box away, with the contact in it. 

He got back out and saw how Morgana and Gwen were eager to see his eyes. When they saw him, they looked at each other and smiled. Merlin rolled his eyes and went back to them. Morgana had a sort of princess-like bed. It was big and it had cloth's over it like curtains that were wrapped up to each corner. Merlin crawled into bed with them and they all cuddled up. 

They all fell asleep. 

Midnight came and Morgana shot up, waking up Merlin and Gwen. She was having some sort of panic attack over a nightmare. Gwen rushed down a flight of stairs to get her a glass of water and came back, while Merlin was holding Morgana. They both reassured her that nothing was wrong, that it was just a nightmare. Arthur eventually came into the room and gave her some pills. Arthur said that she had PTSD from a plain crash she survived when she was younger, that she had vivid nightmares about it. He lectured her on not taking her medication before bed.

Morgana did fall asleep again, as did Gwen, and Arthur went back to his room. Merlin, however, didn't have the best time falling asleep, seeing as how Morgana and Gwen cuddled back into him and made him so hot that he was sweating. He was burning. A few minutes later, he got out of Morgana's bed and pushed Gwen and Morgana together. He looked at them and sighed. Where was he supposed to sleep? Morgana only had one chair and Merlin didn't exactly want to sleep on Morgana's bean bag, no matter how comfortable.

He heard a cough and went out into the hallway, seeing Arthur's lights on. He knocked on the door before opening it and hanging around in the doorway. Arthur looked at him from his desk and groaned.

"What do you want? It's one in the morning," Arthur asked, clearly annoyed.

"A place to sleep. Sleeping between two young women when you're already warm isn't pleasant, contrary to popular belief," Merlin said, "Especially when they force you into an uncomfortable position."

Arthur looked at him. He sighed and looked back to whatever he was doing on his desk, "You can take my bed. I'm not going to sleep tonight, anyways, I have work to catch up on."

Merlin picked himself up and regained his composure. He climbed up the ladder to Arthur's bed and laid himself down in it, immediately groaning quietly as he did so. Arthur's bed was nice and cool, and then Merlin realized it was a water bed. 

"Spoiled brat," He whispered to himself as he buried himself in the caramel smell of Arthur's pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if y'all can tell, but I love writing about the Merlin, Morgana, and Gwen trio. They're chaotic but they're all adorable and I love all of them. I promise I'll give a lot more merthur and gwen having a crush on 3 people, simultaneously, in the next chapter.  
> Please let me know what you thought of the chapter!


	3. Kitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know no one probably reads these but, I have a tumblr account I've posted a lot on! I've had it for about two years, actually. Anyways, that's not the point. I'm gonna start posting updates about this story and my progress with chapters if y'all wanna check that out! I'll give the name at the end of the chapter.

"I haven't seen you all morning. How's your day going?"

Morgana cleared her throat, "Well, I prevented a murder."

"Was it Arthur again?" Merlin laughed.

"I stopped myself from killing him during breakfast," Morgana groaned, "I was so close to slamming his head down on the cereal and keeping it there until he drowned in the milk."

"That bad, huh?" Merlin calmed down from laughing.

"He wants to get me something for my birthday," Morgana told Merlin, "It's in three weeks."

Merlin gasped, "How come you didn't tell me?"

Morgana shrugged. She hugged her own shoulders.

"I guess I just didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it this year," Morgana said, "Besides, you being my friend is more than enough as a gift."

Merlin turned away and looked above him to see the clock, "We're going to History soon."

"Yeah, in thirty minutes," Morgana rolled her eyes, "Goddess, Merlin, your sense of time is fucked up."

Merlin laughed and playfully shoved her. She laughed as well and they turned back to hearing the lesson. Merlin didn't really pay attention, despite hearing. He started writing something on his paper. He wasn't so sure what, he wasn't really paying attention to himself either. He snapped out of his little trance and saw what he was writing on the paper. 'Pendragon.' That was curious. Pendragon? Which one? He was almost sure he was simply thinking about Morgana since her birthday was in a few weeks. He wanted to get her something, even if she said that she didn't want anything.

Merlin erased the word he had written. He looked up and saw there was still twenty-five minutes left of class. He dropped his head on the desk and quietly groaned.

"Can anyone tell me the answer to number two?" He heard the teacher call and he shut his eyes. Soon, he drifted towards sleep.

He smelled caramel in his dreams. He felt someone touch his shoulder and call his name. He turned around and then woke up to see Morgana telling him that they were gonna switch classes in less than two minutes. He started panicking to put everything away in his messenger bag and then he hung it on his shoulder, just a bit before the bell rang.

"We have class with my dumbass brother," Morgana groaned.

"This is your first class of the day with him, 'Gana," Merlin said, "I've had two classes with him so far."

"How have you not died yet?" Morgana asked and Merlin laughed at that. 

Merlin was getting more used to the halls around the school and he was also getting far more used to seeing Arthur threatening freshmen, though not once did he stand as a bystander and let it slip. Merlin became practically loved my the freshmen. He had a really good friend who was a freshman, actually, her name was Freya. He only saw her in Gym but they were really good friends. Freya was a nice girl, she was also very aesthetically pleasing and attractive. She was also one of Arthur's main victims. 

Merlin and Morgana arrived at their class and walked in, sitting down together. Morgana had asked Mr. Kilgarrah to change seats since she was sitting with Arthur and his group of friends at first, then she met Merlin and the group she was in was easily defeated by Merlin in her standards. Merlin looked around and he saw Arthur already sitting in his own seat and he had two of his 'knights' with him. Gwaine and Percival, as Morgana had said their names were. 

Morgana sighed. A freshman with blue eyes entered the room and Merlin chuckled, nudging Morgana in the shoulder and getting her to look. Her eyes filled with some sort of joy. 

"Mordred!" Morgana smiled and jumped out of hear seat to meet him. 

Mordred turned out to be one of Morgana's favorite people, also. Morgana typically hated crowd pleasers, but she loved Mordred. He was a nice boy and very funny to Merlin. He never got in Merlin's way and whenever Merlin had forgotten something, Mordred would remind him. Mordred was a genius, to say so in the least. Mentally, he could've been in their grade level or higher. He was extremely smart for a freshman. Morgana loved him. Mordred was also a sort of messenger between Merlin and Freya.

Morgana hugged him and Mordred let out a small laugh. Merlin waved at Mordred as Morgana let him go and Mordred waves back. Morgana took her seat back and Mordred sat behind her. 

"Freya says she has something to tell you," Mordred said, putting his bag beside his chair, "She says it's important."

"Did she give any sort of clue of what it was about?" Merlin asked.

"No," Mordred replied, "She didn't. She just told me to tell you that. I asked her what it was about and she said it was a secret."

Merlin chuckled, "You know Freya. She's always keeping some sort of secret."

Mordred laughed. Merlin hadn't realized that Arthur had come close to them. He put his hand on Mordred's shoulder.

"Mordred!" Arthur greeted, smiling. Merlin stared up at Arthur and Morgana glared at him, putting her hand on Mordred's hands. Arthur chuckled at her possessiveness. 

One of the few things that Arthur and Morgana could agree in was how much they liked Mordred. Although Morgana saw Mordred as more of a friend, Arthur saw a potential 'knight' and/or errand boy. Either way, Merlin was thankful Arthur didn't bully Mordred. He saw that Mordred actually really liked Arthur, that if given the choice, he would join his group. 

Arthur retrieved his hand from Mordred's shoulder at Morgana's glare. He started speaking.

"Our free period was fun, huh?" Arthur commented. 

Mordred nodded, smiling widely. Goddess, Merlin thought, this kid must have some sort of crush towards Arthur. Merlin stopped. That wasn't the worst guess, considering how Mordred acted towards Arthur. Merlin looked away and got out his journal.

Soon after a short conversation, Arthur left and Merlin was overhearing the conversation Morgana and Mordred were having.

"How are things going with Kara?" Morgana asked. Merlin's head tilted.

"Kara?" Merlin asked, "Who's Kara?"

Mordred's face flushed. He muttered something.

"What?" Merlin asked and Morgana smirked.

"Kara is Mordred's _girlfriend_ ," Morgana giggled and Mordred wailed in embarrassment. 

So, Mordred didn't have a crush on Arthur. That was nice to know. He just really admired Arthur. 

"Mordred has a girlfriend?" Merlin said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah," Mordred said, embarrassed. 

Merlin grinned. He raised an eyebrow, "When are we meeting her?"

Morgana laughed, "You make it sound like we're his parents."

Merlin whipped his head to Morgana.

"Are we not?" Merlin joked and Morgana laughed harder. Mordred kept blushing.

Merlin calmed down from laughing and looked at Mordred, who was visibly embarrassed. The bell rung but they knew Mr. Kilgarrah almost always arrived late. They kept talking.

"Seriously, though," Morgana grinned, "I want to meet her!"

"She has a free period when you have yours, Morgana," Mordred said, "She normally goes to the 7-Eleven down the block and spends the free period there."

"I'll be sure to check for her tomorrow," Morgana smiled.

Merlin nudged Morgana and Mordred as Mr. Kilgarrah arrived inside the room. He started talking and Merlin sighed, looking at the board. He looked sideways and saw Morgana staring at the board. He looked around the classroom and quietly groaned before looking back at the board. Eventually, his mind drifted from different thoughts. He was no longer paying attention to class, which wasn't exactly the best thing in this class because Mr. Kilgarrah always picked on him. It was always the hardest questions. Mordred always answered nearly every question since no one else raised their hands. Morgana occasionally did, so did Arthur. Everyone else seemed to always be drifting off to sleep or not paying attention. Merlin fit into that category, but he was always answering the hard questions because Mr. Kilgarrah called on him. 

It was fair to say that he didn't exactly love History. 

Mr. Kilgarrah asked a question that Merlin wasn't paying attention to and Mordred raised his hand, like always. He looked around the room and for the first time, he didn't call on Merlin. He called on Arthur. He looked at Arthur speaking. He rolled his eyes and simply looked back towards the board. Mr. Kilgarrah was shaking his head, Arthur had gotten an answer wrong and he was suddenly interested in what they were talking. He saw Morgana smirking and Mordred shrugging. 

Arthur looked embarrassed, as if it was the first time he had gotten something wrong. Maybe it was. He'd have to ask Morgana about it, if she had ever seen him get something wrong. Merlin chuckled and looked back towards the board, pretending to pay attention. 

In almost no time, the period was over. That was fairly quick, Merlin thought. Next, they had Theater with Gwen. They said goodbye to Mordred and Morgana and Merlin walked together. Merlin wondered what Freya wanted to talk about. Morgana spoke up.

"Okay, what are you thinking about? You're quiet," Morgana asked.

"Just wondering that Freya wanted to speak about," Merlin said. 

Morgana raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious?" Merlin asked.

"Do you seriously not know?" Morgana asked, "God, Merls, you can be so dense sometimes."

"Know what?" Merlin asked, confused.

"The girl is," Morgana paused, "How do I put it? She's very fond of you."

Merlin tilted his head, "Duh! She's my friend!"

Morgana rubbed her temples, "Sure, Merlin."

They arrived at the classroom and sat down. Gwen came through the door and sat in front of Merlin. She greeted them and laid her bag down. 

"You're alive," Morgana laughed. 

"See my excitement for it," Gwen said, monotone voice. 

Merlin laughed and saw that Ms. Nimueh was already in the classroom. She was always somehow there already. Merlin shuddered. He started hearing Gwen and how she was complaining about how the creative writing teacher had pulled her from her free period to talk about her assignments.

"I want a new character," Gwen whined.

"Then make one," Morgana said.

"Holy shit, then perish," Merlin said right afterwards.

"Same energy," Gwen realized, "Morgana, you've just created the exact opposite of 'then perish'."

"You all never stood a chance against me and my raw fucking lines from Tumblr," Morgana said. 

Merlin laughed, "So, it wasn't original. That's good to know."

"You could sooner divert a river's course than deny me of my nature, Merlin."

Gwen laughed. Merlin's head was towards the door, and as if on cue, Arthur entered the room. Their eyes met for a brief second before Merlin looked at Morgana. He realized the conversation had taken a complete turn in the few seconds he wasn't listening.

"You'd fuck my brother?" Morgana asked Gwen.

"I mean, it depends on whether he's good at sex or not," Gwen stated, "But I guess he must have some experience with the way he looks."

"Yeah, remember Vivian from the other class? Algebra?" Morgana asked, "He's the girl he lost his virginity to. Late freshmen year, I heard them across the hall."

"She's super pretty," Gwen said, "Weren't they in a relationship at one point?"

"Yeah, over the summer between freshmen year and sophomore year," Morgana said, "I forgot the reason they broke up."

Merlin jumped in, "Because Arthur lost interest in her."

Morgana raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know??"

"You told me a few days ago," Merlin shrugged. 

"She's in a relationship with that other girl," Gwen said, "What was her name? I forget."

"Elena, I believe," Merlin said.

"We're getting off-subject," Morgana paused and looked at Merlin, "Would you fuck my brother, Merls?" 

Merlin's face flushed rather quickly. He struggled to get an answer out.

"Why me? Why ask me?" Merlin finally said.

"Because I wouldn't fuck my own brother, that's disgusting," Morgana said in a disgusted tone.

"I'd fuck Arthur, I guess," Gwen finally said, answering the question herself.

Great, now Merlin had to answer. That was hell. 

Merlin stayed quiet for a few seconds before he opened his mouth to speak.

"I-"

"What are we talking about?" 

The three's heads turned to see Arthur standing over them. Merlin's face flushed again, damn it, it had just calmed down. Morgana and Gwen burst laughing, seeing Merlin's embarrassment. Arthur looked rather confused. Merlin stayed quiet, waiting for one of the girls to answer. 

The bell rung and Arthur sat down behind Morgana. Merlin lifted an eyebrow. Why wasn't he sitting with his friends?

Gwen also looked back, confused. So did Morgana. Arthur shrugged.

"I choose to sit wherever I want," Arthur said.

Morgana quietly groaned, just loud enough for them to hear her. Gwen and Merlin giggled. 

Class begun. A few minutes in, Ms. Nimueh said that she'd let them have a free period inside the classroom if they kept it down. She let them talk. 

Arthur's presence sort of just vanished from their radar and they kept talking as if he wasn't there. He wouldn't make any comments, anyways. 

"What about Lancelot?" Morgana asked Gwen, "What do you think of him?"

"He's perfect," Gwen said happily. Merlin almost scoffed and laughed, seeing as how Gwen basically had a crush on Morgana.

"Mithian?" Morgana kept on going.

"She's also perfect, obviously!" Gwen exclaimed, "Have you seen her? Have you _talked_ to her?! I was in love with her by the first second I was even near her."

Morgana laughed, "Yeah, she is. Not gonna lie there."

"I would date her in a heartbeat, given the chance," Gwen sighed, dreamily. 

Merlin shrugged, "What about Morgause?"

Morgana looked at Merlin and frowned. Gwen also frowned.

"Morgause is a bitch," Morgana said, "She's dumped me two times and yet I still keep coming back to her, regardless. It's like she's put me under some sort of spell."

"To say in the least," Gwen replied. 

"Yeah," Morgana nodded.

Merlin nodded. He never did understand the dynamic between Morgana and Morgause. He had never asked Morgana about it. Merlin sighed.

"Gwaine?" Gwen chimed in, destroying the crappy mood.

"Nice guy, all things considered," Morgana said, "And just because I'm lesbian doesn't mean that I don't notice he's attractive."

"He's my fucking crush," Merlin said, smiling.

He looked at Arthur for a split second to see that Arthur's head went up when he said that. He shivered. 

"What about Elyan?" Morgana asked.

"Brother," Gwen sighed.

"He's okay, I guess," Merlin shrugged, "I haven't talked to him much. He's attractive, though."

Gwen made a face and Merlin chucked. 

The time in Theater passed rather quickly. They all were having fun, making comments on random people. Merlin occasionally looked at Arthur to see him writing down something. He tried to read it at one point but Arthur glared at him and hid it away with his arm. The bell rung. Merlin's next period was Gym and he had it with Arthur, although he spent it with Freya. Freya. She had completely faded from his mind. He stood up with his bag and made his way to the boy's locker room. 

He changed and went out into the gym to see Freya awkwardly standing in one of the corners of the room. The bell rung. He made his way over to Freya before the Gym teacher walked in. 

While the Gym teacher was talking, Merlin stared at Freya, who looked away.

"What do you want?" Freya asked Merlin.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Merlin asked.

Freya stayed quiet. 

Merlin nudged her and she turned back to look at him, nudging him back. She was smiling. Merlin smiled back.

"Can it wait until after class is over?" Freya asked.

Merlin chuckled, "Sure."

Freya was small. She was barely 5'0. Which meant that Merlin was a giant compared to her. She wasn't ugly, on the contrary. She was a very pretty girl. She always had a scratch or injury on her face, which made Merlin worry for her life at home. She was also far too skinny to be normal, which made him worry as well. Then, he understood why people worried for his own shape and he understood. Her hair wasn't too long, and she always had it up in a ponytail. Merlin thought she was very cute and expressed it freely. He knew her confidence wasn't too big so he told her lots of compliments. Whenever he brings some money with him to school, he takes her to the 7-Eleven down the block and buys her a strawberry slushie. It was her favorite flavor. She always wore a red hair tie, it was her favorite color. Come to think of it, Merlin had never seen her with her hair down. 

The period passed with Freya making jokes and Merlin following up on them. She was a very funny girl, also. Merlin and her had a similar sense of humor. 

Freya squinted her eyes, "I'll sell you to Hell for one pebble."

"Thanks, I'd love that," Merlin said, "But all I did was throw a ball at you, Freya."

"Burn in your own death!" Freya yelled at him as she threw the ball at him.

Merlin caught it and he sighed. He threw it in the floor and it bounced to Freya. 

Merlin stopped paying attention to Freya and looked back for a second to catch a sight of Arthur. He was laughing with his damn perfect smile and his gorgeous face and his beautiful eyes and-

What was Merlin thinking? Arthur had probably gotten in his head with all the compliments he made to himself all the time. Merlin looked back at Freya and saw her raise an eyebrow.

"Why are you blushing?" Freya asked.

"What? I'm not blushing!" Merlin said.

"Yeah, you are," Freya walked closer to him, "And your ears are all red, too. What happened?"

"Gym happened," Merlin looked away, "I'm just tired! I want to go home."

Freya shrugged, "Whatever you say, dude."

Freya threw the ball on the floor and it bounced to Merlin. 

Merlin grabbed the ball and threw it back. Arthur had gotten in his head and that's it. That's it. That's it. _That's it_.

The bell rung, it was officially after school now. Merlin practically ran to the boy's locker room and got changed as swiftly as possible. He needed to rethink his life choices. Freya had also apparently rushed and she grabbed onto Merlin's arm and Merlin remembered Freya had something to tell him.

"What is it?" Merlin asked.

Freya smiled, excitedly. 

"So, remember how I told you I wanted a cat?" Freya asked.

"Yeah, but you're allergic, aren't you?" Merlin tilted his head.

"Yeah, sadly," Freya said, sighing, "But! My mom found out there's a breed that most people who are allergic to cats didn't have a reaction to. My mom is getting the kitty now! I'm gonna get to see the little guy when I get home."

Merlin grinned and put his arm around Freya. He smiled down at her and congratulated her. He understood that she thought kitties as a special thing to say and warn about, he was happy for her.

His mind was off Arthur now, thankfully for him. He looked down at Freya.

"Wanna go get a slushie?" Merlin asked and Freya happily nodded. 

They walked down the block and entered the 7-Eleven. He greeted the girl working there, it was Elena, and went to the back to get Freya her strawberry slushie. She filled up the cup and he walked to the counter, already paying for it. 

"The girl your girlfriend?" Elena asked Merlin while he was sorting out the money.

Merlin scoffed, "No. That's my friend."

"You sure? You two look like you're dating."

Merlin looked at Freya, who was happily sipping on her slushie. She turned around and waved at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Merlin said, handing the money to Elena, "Besides, she's a freshman and not much of my type."

Elena laughed and gave him his receipt. 

"Hope you come again!" 

Merlin called Freya and they walked out together. They joked around and Merlin dropped Freya off at her house before going to his own. When he arrived, he looked at his phone to see a few pictures of Freya's new kitty and a few emoticons. She was so excited. He grinned and sent an emoticon back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all better believe I'm making this a really slow burn.  
> I know that everyone who has left a comment (please leave more, I love to hear from you guys!) thinks the dynamic between Gwen/Morgana/Merlin is great and that's amazing. I don't get to see it much in fanfiction but did y'all see how amazing they were on the show while together?  
> I love writing their banter. Also, yeah, Vivian/Elena as a background ship :D I can't get enough fanfics of them and that's sad.  
> Btw!! Morgana and Morgause are not any type of sisters in this.  
> Also! My tumblr account is @creatlysse  
> Keep updated on the story there! I'll probably write a couple of dribbles about this story that I won't put inside of here too. So, basically, BTS content. 
> 
> Tell me your thoughts on the chapter!


	4. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh, wet dreams and masturbation warning, I guess?? It's not that explicit, but it does take up the whole beginning of the chapter.

_Merlin let out a hoarse whisper, "Please, just, please-"_

_The person with Merlin let out a laugh. Merlin felt his heart skip._

_"You're gonna have to do a lot more begging than that to get what you want, baby," The person said._

_Merlin whined and shivered under the person's touch. He was at their mercy._

_"I guess I can give you what you want, though," The person said, "Seeing as you're extremely needy tonight._

_The person touched Merlin's chest, slowly sinking down to their knees and kneeling in front of Merlin's cock. Merlin felt himself getting needier by the second. He felt a soft and wet surface take him halfway and then slowly and gradually, taking him whole into their mouth. Merlin's hand, which had found itself in the person's hair, was raised to cover his own mouth to prevent moans from coming out. It smelled like caramel._

_"Please, please, please, please," Merlin said, "Arth-"_

Merlin woke up in cold sweat. 

He looked out his window and it looked like it was still dark outside. His legs moved and his thighs rubbed against his member, his _real_ one. Merlin let out a soft whimper and realized that he was hard. Oh, Maiden have mercy. He checked his phone. 2:06 A.M.

His dream came back to him and he felt the life sink out of him.

What the fuck, what the fuck, _what the fuck!_

He did _not_ just have a wet dream about his best friend's brother. He hates that guy! Merlin let out a quiet groan. He felt his thighs rub together again, making him more bothered. He laid in his bed, not moving for a while. Curiously, he raised his hand to his nose and it didn't, in fact, smell like caramel. It was a disappointment to Merlin, to say in the least. He can't believe himself.

There was no other option rather than to finish himself off. He got out his member and started stroking himself lightly. He let out soft moans and sighs of pleasure. He started stroking faster after a minute. He remembered his dream, the sheer ecstasy he could feel when that someone, it was definitely not Arthur, took him whole. Merlin wasn't small, that's for sure, but he wasn't big, either. 

He tried to get the dream out of his head, refusing it. It kept creeping its way back, though, and Merlin absolutely hated it. But then he imagined what would've happened if the dream kept going, and he came with a grunt. His whole body was filled with pleasure for a few moments and then he came down from his high. 

He was embarrassed to think that the dream he had about Arthur made him cum. 

Arthur wasn't ugly, that was certain. He could never be ugly in a million lifetimes, Merlin was sure. Arthur was handsome and hot as fuck. The problem was that Arthur was an asshole. He was a bully. He was Morgana's brother. It was also that Merlin definitely did not like Arthur. 

He faded back to sleep, after a while of his thoughts eating at him.

When he woke up again, his alarm, he did his morning routine. He showered and changed into some random clothes and that scarf he always wore no matter the circumstance. The Gym teacher hates him for it. He brushed his teeth after he made his own breakfast and left some for his mom, for when she woke up. He went out the door after he grabbed his bag and made his way to school. 

The first person he met at school was Gwen. He could tell her about it, surely. 

Gwen was rambling on about how the show she was watching had a huge twist and Merlin was lost in thought. Merlin was battling himself upon telling her about it or not, He finally decided not to. It would resolve itself eventually.

"... -ison Ivy _left_ Harley Quinn. Like, full-blown said she was gonna marry another dude after getting laid with her," Gwen continued going on about it.

"That's fucked up," Merlin said.

Gwen nodded, "Yeah! I thought so, too. The next episode is coming out in a few days and I want to see how the writers fix that."

"You think they can?" Merlin asked, "I dunno, the relationship between Ivy and Harley is pretty complicated. Especially now that Ivy is getting married."

Gwen shrugged.

"I guess, but Harley _does_ love Ivy," Gwen pointed out.

"Until when? Poison Ivy made a stable point that Harley Quinn doesn't stay with one thing for too long," Merlin said.

They both felt a hand coming at their shoulders and turned to see who it was.

"Merls, Gwen," The person said, "The show can't queer-bait the relationship between Harley and Ivy when they were canon at some point in the comics. I'm gonna have to go with Gwen."

Morgana. Gwen's face lit up and Merlin almost smirked at her. She was so easily excited when Morgana was near and it was more than clear that she liked her, even if she was too afraid or confused to say it. Knowing Gwen, though, she's as oblivious as ever. Morgana smiled back at Gwen and Merlin chuckled at the two.

"Morgana!" Gwen cheered. Morgana smiled. Gwen continued, "Happy Birthday!"

Merlin put his hand on Morgana's hair and chuckled, "Happy Birthday, 'Gana."

Morgana giggled, something far too precious to ever be seen. Merlin almost found himself choking and he looked over at Gwen, who appeared to be having some sort of mind fuck. 

He put an arm around Morgana when she was near enough. Another thing that Merlin ought to be grateful for and purely a coincidence is that Morgana was in the same homeroom as Merlin and Gwen. Which meant that they got to gossip early in the morning and have rants to each other.

They walked together to homeroom, listening to Morgana finally talk about some new show she was watching. She was basically describing the whole plot in a few minutes, but that was only granted. Gwen occasionally chipped in and asked a few questions while Merlin listened. He was stuck in his mind and refused to look at Morgana because she had a dream about her brother. 

He was almost certain that if he kept it a secret, it would go away. Or, at least, if he didn't act on it, it would be okay. What was he thinking? He would never act on such a thing. The very thought of it frustrated him, but it didn't really disgust him any longer. He heard Morgana call his name as they all sat down in homeroom. 

"So, did you bring the snacks?" Morgana asked, smugly. Merlin momentarily forgot about the dream and he looked puzzled at Morgana.

"Snacks?" Merlin asked. Morgana frowned.

"The snacks for tonight," Gwen chipped in, "Remember that Morgana invited us to a birthday sleepover?"

Merlin realized, "Oh! ... I forgot to buy them."

Gwen looked at Morgana.

"We can ask Arthur to stop by the 7-Eleven to buy some candy and maybe some slushies," Gwen told her and Morgana nodded.

Merlin sighed and apologized to the two girls. The bell rang and they kept on talking while attendance was being taken. When first period was gonna start, Merlin said goodbye to Gwen and Morgana, seeing as how they didn't have Biology with neither. He did, however, have it with Arthur. It was gonna be a nightmare for him. He walked into the classroom and Arthur was already there, listening to one of his friends talk. None other than Gwaine. 

"I'm telling you, man," Gwaine said, "Mix a Nyquil and a Redbull if you just want to skip the whole schoolday. I did it last week."

Merlin was suddenly interested in the conversation. He sat down at his own seat, but fixated on hearing the story.

"My dad was driving me to school and I was extremely sick so he gave me a Nyquil and told me to go to school anyways, the bastard," Gwaine said, "And when I arrived at school, I was about to fucking fall asleep, my man. Percy here gave me the rest of a Redbull he was drinking to energize me and the next thing I remember? Sixth period ending and everyone starting to head home or to their clubs.

"I'll take your entire stock," Elyan chipped in.

Arthur laughed and Merlin had to lay his head against the desk to cool down his face. 

"What about the days you want to learn?" Lancelot asked.

"What in the seven hells would possess you to want to learn?" Gwaine asked.

"Don't listen to him," Percival laughed, "Try eating an apple. It works better than coffee to wake you up."

"Why must you actually want to learn?" Gwaine asked, finding Percival's arm around his shoulders.

"Because you were gifted with advanced home school most of your life and you're way past my grade level," Percival answered, kissing Gwaine's forehead, "I need to catch up."

Gwaine chuckled lightly. Merlin pondered on how they managed to be such an adorable couple with one interaction alone.

Merlin saw Gaius walk in through the door and he sighed, class was about to get started. He faded into his own mind, which didn't work to pass the time whatsoever. He wondered how people did it in stories. How did people fade into their own minds and class was suddenly over? It simply seemed unreal. He's tried to do that several times but each and every time, he would look up at the clock and see there was half an hour left. He wondered if the secret to it was that you didn't look up at the clock. Maybe time would dissolve and not be a construct anymore. 

The bell rung and Merlin flinched so hard. He had done it, for once. Wow, he was surprised at himself. He didn't think he was possible of such a thing. He picked up his bag and walked out of the room. He didn't bother looking back to see if he had left anything behind, strange. He almost convinced himself to look back, he was almost sure he had left his favorite pen behind. 

But, regardless, he didn't look back. He would never leave the pen behind. He only wrote with that pen. Merlin sat down in his next class's seat and waited for Gwen to come in through the door.

To his own dread, Gwen didn't come in through the door before Arthur fucking Pendragon did. Merlin stared at him until he sat down and he pulled one of his books out. His dream came back to him and he could've swore he was about to get hard just from looking at Arthur. He looked away to see Gwen walking in, thank Goddess. Gwen seemed really happy about something and Merlin grinned at her. She sat down next to him.

"So, you know the hot guy that I have a crush on, right?" Gwen asked.

"You're gonna have to be more specific," Merlin laughed.

Gwen chuckled, "Lancelot!"

"Oh, my other fantasy boyfriend?"

Gwen punched him playfully. 

"So, right after class," Gwen started actually telling the story, "He handed me this note and then practically ran away from me. I guess he was sort of embarrassed? I have absolutely no idea but guess what the note he gave me said."

"Was it his numb-" Merlin started saying before Gwen cut him off.

"It was his number!" Gwen cheered happily.

"I'm guessing you already messaged him?" Merlin asked and Gwen looked at him with a deadpan.

"No!" Gwen said, "I'll do it at lunch! Morgana is the expert with these things so I'll try to get advice from her on this. Plus, you'll be there to see and suggest stuff."

Merlin smirked, "Talking about Morgana..."

Gwen had a face. She couldn't exactly blush because of the darkness of her skin. Instead, she had a face or expression she would use whenever she was embarrassed or was meant to blush. Gwen made the face when she realized what Merlin was talking about.

"Morgana doesn't like me, Merls," Gwen reminded him.

"You sure about that?" Merlin asked.

"Of course!" Gwen said, "I've known her for years and the only person she's really liked, or even loved, is Morgause."

"Bitch, please!" Merlin laughed, "You could see her whenever she's around you. She's as attracted to you as a moth is to a flame."

Gwen shrugged.

"Even if she is," Gwen said, "That doesn't stop the fact that Lancelot obviously likes me and I do like him, too."

"Damn multiple crushes," Merlin sighed.

The teacher walked into the classroom and they both looked at the board, not exactly eager to learn. Merlin stared at Gwen and he shrugged. He had gotten to the point where he could practically hear her thinking. It was weird. He could tell that she was having a battle with herself about Morgana. Merlin knew Gwen had a crush on multiple people. But, as much as she dreaded it, she did have a huge crush on Morgana. Merlin knew that Gwen could date other people and still really like Morgana. Hell, he knew she'd be okay of monogamy if it meant she could be with the people she liked, especially Morgana.

Merlin sighed. Just looking at Gwen gave him anxiety. He thought about things himself. He wanted to get some answers from himself. What was up with that dream? Did he have a crush on Arthur? He knew the answer to that second one, it was most definitely not. He didn't have a crush on Arthur! So, why did he have that dream? It was so confusing. Goddamn hormones. 

A few hours later, it was lunch time. Morgana and Merlin were helping Gwen message Lancelot. Arthur came to sit by them, much to Merlin's dismay. What did Arthur have with sitting by them this past few weeks? It was strange. Sometimes, out of nowhere, Arthur would sit with them and not talk at all. They had gotten used to it by now, but Merlin was a bit uncomfortable with him today.

"I can't just text him a 'hey' Merlin!" Gwen cried.

"She's right, that's up to him to say, Merls," Morgana said.

"Okay, what if he _doesn't_ text 'hey' back, then? What then?" Merlin asked.

"Then he's an asshole!" Morgana answered, "He can't text back 'hello', that's too informative. He can't say 'hi', that's too casual. He can't say 'yo', that's to say to friends. Leaving him with one option, 'hey'."

Merlin chuckled, "What does Arthur here text back usually?"

Arthur's head shot up from his notebook and he laughed, almost awkwardly. Morgana smirked.

"Yes, Arthur, what _do_ you usually text back?" She asked smugly.

"Why do you want to know, dumbass?" Arthur shot at Morgana.

"Oh, dear brother!" She said dramatically, "I'm wounded! Why would I ever have a foul reason to ask you a question?"

Arthur glared at her. She grinned.

"I just want to know if you're an asshole in first texts as well as usual, you illiterate fuck pastry," She said.

Gwen almost laughed at the name. Morgana could make up insults in less than a second with ease. It didn't come easy to everyone and she had a habit on using almost all of them on Arthur. 

"If you must know, yes, I text 'hey'," Arthur groaned, "Morgana is correct, as much as I hate it. There's only one thing to text when it comes to having a second first text."

"What would Lancelot say?" Merlin asked him, "He's your best friend. Wait! Does Lancelot like Gwen?"

"Shut up, _Mer_ lin," Arthur said, "But yes, he does. She's the only thing the guy ever talks about."

"So, you're useful to this conversation after all," Morgana said.

"No, I'm not," Arthur said, "I'm gonna go back to reading."

Morgana rolled her eyes and went back to helping Gwen. So did Merlin. Lunch ended not long after. The rest of the day went by smoothly, too.

Gwen and Morgana didn't have any sort of practice today, meaning that Arthur didn't have to drive him to the Pendragon estate. Apparently, just a bit after school ended, Lancelot messaged Gwen back. They had a full conversation that was maneuvered by all of them, not just Gwen. When they got to the estate, they went to the huge kitchen of the mansion, fucking goddess, and then they went to one of the living areas with a T.V. 

They didn't do so much as to celebrate Morgana's birthday aside from being with her. They watched a couple of crappy movies, Morgana's favorite. She loved to make fun of everything the characters did and said. Merlin and Gwen enjoyed her commentary. They did, however, watch one or two good movies. They watched one lesbian movie, Morgana said it was actually great. 'But I'm a Cheerleader'

Not long after watching about maybe seven movies, they all went to sleep. Merlin had talked to Morgana about the 'motherfucking heat' about being between two people who liked to cuddle to the point of burning. Morgana had laughed and gotten him a comfortable bean bag for him that apparently she just kept in her closet for whenever he comes over. Merlin sat on the long bean bag, then laid down.

He looked over at Morgana and Gwen, who were already asleep. How long did it take for them to go to sleep? Fucking Goddess, they couldn't even last a couple of minutes. Merlin had gone to the bathroom and taken his contact out. He sighed and closed his eyes, drifting slowly to sleep. 

_..._

_Merlin shivered under Arthur's touch. He whined when Arthur took his fingers out of him and Arthur laughed, hoarsely._

_"I got you, babe," Arthur said, "Just a little patience, okay?"_

_Merlin heard Arthur get something from his night stand and he also heard something come open. Merlin looked at Arthur. It was lube. The asshole had it ready. Arthur covered himself in lube and then put just a bit more on Merlin's entrance. Merlin waited, impatiently._

_Merlin felt something at his entrance and then it pushed in. Merlin breathed heavily._

_"You okay, there, Mer_ lin _?" Arthur asked, his own voice almost shaking._

_The thought of Arthur being gentle and not rough and harsh made Merlin smi-_

Merlin woke up in the middle of the night, Morgana and Gwen just a few feet away. He was hard and he checked his phone. 2 A.M. He saw there was a light turned on and he instantly knew Arthur was just a door away. Merlin groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha I said in the tags there's gonna be angst and eventual smut, y'all. This chapter is a warning. I haven't rated this fanfic yet but it's certainly gonna have explicit content.  
> lmao, also, remember how I said 'slow burn' in the tags?? that's right, bitches, Merlin isn't getting with Arthur until a certain plot point in which we are nowhere near. just putting some feelings into the mix to confuse him rn. On another note, Morgana is the older sister of Arthur!! I don't have a sibling so I'm trying to make them sound as much like siblings according to tumblr posts.
> 
> So, what's up with your dear author, Creatlysse? Well, for starters, quarantine is killing me. Not in a sense where I'm extremely bored, but in a sense where I'm having so much more panic attacks over dumb stuff and I keep getting sensory overloads over nothing. So, this chapter is probably arriving a bit later than I intend it to?? I'm not exactly in the best mental shape. Remember, I'll post an update on how the story is going on tumblr (@creatlysse) occasionally. When a chapter takes more than a week to write, more specifically.  
> I've also been getting into homestuck, I guess?? So, I probably will do a fanfic on them when I finish the series. Not another high school au, for sure, but certainly something. I'll think of something eventually.  
> My mind has been off the rails lately so these chapters are gonna arrive slowly for three reasons. 1) as previously stated, I'm not in the best mental shape and I've been having more issues with my health. 2) I have my own life, even if I'm in quarantine. School work isn't exactly the best thing that could've happened to me in quarantine, but I'm getting out of online school this week, so yay?? 3) I've been having a lot of writer's block lately. I can write for 2 hours and have a chapter done in that time-frame but I seriously will not have inspiration for the next few days, maybe even a week or two. 
> 
> God, this was a long a/n. I'm gonna start making these a bit longer so y'all know what's up.
> 
> Haha, another thing! This one is actually story-related! Leave in the comments what character y'all would like a chapter of! Or what ship, even (although I won't write it until that specific ship is canon somewhere throughout this story lmao). I won't write it first person, of course, but third person limited. Most of these have been just about Merlin, but if y'all wanted to see a Gwen or Morgana or even Arthur centered chapter, I wouldn't object to the idea!


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